“Over the last three negotiations, we have found a framework that has served the sport very well in terms of promoting competitive balance, promoting financial stability, allowing our players to continue to earn higher and higher salaries,” he said. “And within that framework, there’s a lot of ways to turn the dials to produce adjustments and change that need to be made. And I think that framework will prove to be durable over time.”

I’m not sure where the problem is. If you set up a rule with a limit and have no penalty for exceeding the limit by a certain amount, the actual limit is the point where you pay no penalty.

The slotting system works. It has limited spending.

Theory 3 appears to be the most plausible, then. Teams are pushing the limits of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement’s bonus slot punishment format. There is simply not a large enough disincentive to prevent organizations from going up to that 5 ...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

The order from the bosses: Make one trade for every team. Done. I had to rewrite this whole thing, though, because I had the Yankees trading Brian McCann to the Astros, and then it really happened. You should have seen some of the deals I had in the original piece.

The Cardinals had a few problems last season, and among them was unreliable relief pitching. As a means toward addressing that, they’ve given free-agent lefty Brett Cecil a four-year contract, worth $30.5 million. It also has a full no-trade clause! Very clearly, Cecil didn’t come cheap. A number of teams expressed a willingness to guarantee Cecil three years, so the Cardinals stepped up and went one extra.

CONCLUSIONS
I totally believe Yoan Moncada will realize his offensive upside. He has the tools and the physicality to bust open a ball game with one swing of the bat.

I believe his defense will continue to improve, and it remains possible a full-time defensive position will be determined. However, the Red Sox have the luxury of using Moncada as a designated hitter. With the departure of David Ortiz, Moncada could slip nicely into that role. It may not happen when the team ...

Left-handed starting pitcher—Stephen Gonsalves, Fort Myers (11 games, 11 starts), Chattanooga (13 games, 13 starts): The 6-foot-5 southpaw followed a breakout season with an equally impressive 2016, holding opponents to a .179 average over 140 innings across two levels and going 13-5 with a 2.06 ERA.

“I think he’s progressing,” said Lookouts pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, who also worked with Gonsalves at Cedar Rapids in 2014 and Fort Myers in 2015 and ...

Rewind to the 1960s and 1970s and ironmen such Randy Hundley and Ted Simmons would regularly catch 150-plus games in a season. Hundley even caught a hard-to-comprehend, MLB-record 160 games in 1968. By the 1980s and 1990s, it was more common to see Jason Kendall or other league leaders top 140 games, although Todd Hundley (son of Randy) did live up to his lineage with 150 games caught in 1996 and Brad Ausmus caught 150 in 2000.

If the Astros are ramping up, $6.8 million isn’t a lot to pay for Aoki as a depth option.

Thursday’s four-year, $52 million agreement with free agent corner outfielder Josh Reddick makes it less of a certainty the team tenders Aoki a contract in arbitration before the Dec. 2 deadline. The 34-year-old from Japan stands to make about $6.8 million through the arbitration process, according to MLB Trade Rumors’ projection, a lot for a player who now most likely projects as a fourth outfielder.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Following the action of the minor leagues in refusing tho consider several demands filed with them by the Baseball Players Fraternity, comes the hint that there many be a general strike by the men who drew salaries for displaying their skill on the diamond.
...
“If the players decide to go on strike we will not try to stop them,” said a big baseball man yesterday. “The ball parks will be kept closed next spring if a majority of the players do not sign ...

Yankees SS Gleyber Torres, Scottsdale: New York’s No. 2 prospect began his first offseason in the Yankees system in the Fall League as a 19-year-old who hasn’t played above Class A Advanced. He’s performed beyond his years over the past six weeks, finishing with a league-best .403 average, .513 on-base percentage and 1.158 OPS—not to mention an impressive 8/14 K/BB ratio. After entering 2016 with five career homers, Torres broke out in the power department with 11 long balls over the summer and ...

“The swagger, the malice in the ‘bat wag,’ the quickest, most violent swing in the game. He was a hitting machine. How bad was he with the glove? Put Manny Ramirez and Gary Sheffield in the same outfield, and you’re hoping they hit it to Manny.”

“MVP voters hate second basemen like an underemployed son-in-law (only 10 MVP selections out of the 173 awarded since 1931). Jeff Kent captured one of those awards in 2000 (though it should have went to Bonds).”

Major League Baseball (MLB) has tendered status checks on six South Korean players, officials here said Friday.

The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) said MLB inquired about the status of six players—Kim Kwang-hyun, Cha Woo-chan, Yang Hyun-jong, Woo Kyu-min, Hwang Jae-gyun and Choi Hyoung-woo. The KBO informed its counterpart that all six players are free agents and are eligible to sign with any club, domestic or foreign.

“Ugly,” said another executive. “In the field and at the plate, nothing looks natural.”

The adjectives shouldn’t have been too surprising considering they described someone who hadn’t played organized baseball in over a decade and whose pro baseball career is in its infancy.
Others, though — including Mets general manager Sandy Alderson — insist the 29-year-old has a future in the sport after the Mets signed him ...

There’s no question the Red Sox want Carlos Beltran as a replacement for David Ortiz. One baseball source called him a “top priority,” another tempered that description, noting the Sox want to see how the market develops.

Either way, there’s mutual interest, but there’s no shortage of patience on either side.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Both Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers are investigating a possible case of sexual assault that allegedly involved multiple players at the Rangers’ academy in the Dominican Republic.

Metro, a news outlet in the D.R., reported that three members of the Rangers’ Dominican Summer League team were arrested several months ago. Baseball sources said that four players allegedly were involved, and that charges have yet to be filed.

OK, he’s not as good as Boras’ sales pitch but he’s worth more than two years at $12 million.

“I wouldn’t go more than two years and $12 million but someone will give him more,” an executive from an American League team said. “But he’s got the name recognition, the right agent and he proved he was healthy this year. He’s going to get paid by someone and they will probably live to regret it.”

“The idea is that it’s not uncommon in business for people who have a job title that’s important to them to try to determine exactly what qualifications and traits are predictive of success. It’s something we haven’t done on an industry basis and I just think it might be a useful experiment for us.”

Hey, the current system certainly isn’t working, so why not try something different?

Manfred even stepped into Kansas City last weekend, conveying his plan to the Buck O’Neil ...

Brian McCann seemed like a perfect fit for the Astros, a left-handed-hitting catcher who could still provide some offensive punch while giving them some veteran leadership. The Astros pulled off a deal on Thursday to acquire McCann, sending Minor League pitchers Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman to the Yankees.

The Astros on Thursday reached an agreement on a four-year, $52-million deal with free agent outfielder Josh Reddick, a source confirmed for MLB.com, on the same day the club announced the acquisition of veteran catcher Brian McCann in a trade with the Yankees.

Angels outfielder Mike Trout earned his second career AL Most Valuable Player Award, while in the NL, Cubs slugger Kris Bryant became the fourth player to win the MVP Award a year after being the Rookie of the Year.